Court ruling confirms nuclear plant stays Dutch

A Dutch appeals court has confirmed that the Netherlands' only operating nuclear power plant must remain in Dutch ownership.

Borssele (Image: EPZ)

The ruling by the Arnhem appeal court upholds an earlier ruling prohibiting Germany's RWE from acquiring Essent's 50% stake in the Borssele nuclear plant as part of its takeover of the Dutch utility.

According to Delta, the appeal court decision has emphasized that the country's sole nuclear power plant must remain in public ownership. Any transfer of Essent's share of the plant to RWE would therefore contravene this.

In September 2009, the transaction price for RWE's takeover of Essent was dropped by €950 million (then worth $1.35 billion) to take into account the exclusion of Borssele from the deal while Delta's court case against the proposed transfer was ongoing. Essent's share in the plant has remained in the hands of the provincial and municipal governments who were the company's original public shareholders.

Borssele currently provides about 4% of the Netherlands' electricity, but Delta has announced plans to build a second nuclear plant at the site, embarking on the first stage of the pre-application process in June 2009.